Given my vocal stance on this topic it is easy to assume that recent events would give me a sense of accomplishment, even victory, but this is not the case. Good people’s lives were inexorably altered. The sport I have loved for 30-plus years has become a punch line. It is hard to look back at the wreckage of the last couple decades and feel anything but disappointment.

Instead of spending the last 10 years as a revered elder statesman, Greg LeMond was forced to defend himself against a well-organized smear campaign. Despite this, Greg retains his youthful enthusiasm for the sport. A guy who just loves riding his bike, talking about bikes, climbing big mountains. A 51-year-old Dave Stoller. The sport needs people like Greg LeMond. It needs people with the tactical acumen of Frankie Andreu, the moral compass of Christophe Bassons, the caring nurturing of Emma O’Reilly.

To most, Armstrong’s admission did not come across as genuine. It came across as a final, desperate, attempt to polish a turd, to preserve a revenue stream, to remain relevant. Over the coming months, the Armstrong myth will be analyzed, dissected, dismantled. The sport of cycling will move on. Lance will be cycling’s crazy ex-girl/boyfriend that you don’t want your friends to find out about. A small minority will murmur, “Maybe we should have ignored it.”

Ignoring the issue is what got us to where we are today. Ignoring riders dying in their sleep. Ignoring a rider like Riis winning the Tour. Ignoring Ullrich climbing the Arcalis like he had a motor on his bike. Ignoring the lessons of Festina, Freiburg, and Puerto. Addressing the issue may be painful today, but in the long term it is the right thing for the health of the sport.

Despite the current turmoil, I see many areas of hope for the sport. WADA is a strong voice of reason and enforcement. The media and the fans are far more educated, willing to ask questions, and push for answers.

The sport is dramatically cleaner then it was 10 years ago. It offers opportunity to those who say no, those who previously were pushed from the sport. This spring hundreds of thousands of fans will be on the side of the road, cheering their heart out, at Paris-Roubaix, Flanders, Liege. This July millions more will cheer the 100th Tour de France. And in America, many will come to the realization that their love for riding their bike is about more than just one guy.